Twitter’s one universally enforced constraint is a message length of no more than 150 characters. That limit effectively reduces postings to fewer than 30 words–one long or a few brief sentences–which gives rise to a certain style. You can use Twitter to send an instant message more or less to the universe, an application companies are catching on to. The platform has helped a lot of companies reach out to their customers for surveys and suggestions regarding their products. Some companies also try to buy real Twitter followers through growth services like Twesocial to better their business campaigns.
Justin Kownacki, a co-organizer of last week’s PodCamp Pittsburgh and leader of a Twitter session there, noted how companies are learning to search the Twitter universe to track the performance of brands and build closer relationships with individual consumers. Brevity of message captures spontaneity in the moment, which friends use to maintain contact through the course of the day, colleagues employ to provide updates about breaking events, and businesses tap for immediacy in managing customer needs. It’s proving especially effective when loyalty to a brand begins to fail–and clients broadcast their chagrin to friends in the Twitterverse.
At PodCamp Pittsburgh, or PCPGH3, campers heard about an enterprising employee of Comcast who began to capture Twitter comments at the moment when customers were irritated and telling their friends. He began to reply with offers to fix the issue on the spot–then channeled the complainant to the department that could fix it. His proactive use of Twitter evolved quickly into a service program–comcastcares–and a promotion.
“It’s like having a public office for customers,” one PCPGH3 camper said after voicing frustration about her efforts to convince her own company, another large communication business, to adopt a similar program.
“It’s just customer service listening on a new kind of phone,” another camper observed.
Source: PCPGH3
Writer: Joseph Plummer
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